


eye in the sky

by spaghettirobot



Category: Critical Role (Web Series)
Genre: Character Study, F/F, Idiots in Love, Minor Character Death, Resurrection, True Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-14
Updated: 2019-12-14
Packaged: 2021-02-26 01:40:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21785353
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spaghettirobot/pseuds/spaghettirobot
Summary: Beau's super dead but don't worry about it, she's gonna super come back. Right?
Relationships: Jester Lavorre/Beauregard Lionett
Comments: 6
Kudos: 176





	eye in the sky

Beau's not sure how she got into this predicament. Well, that's not entirely true. A few 'pop pops' into the sludge filled belly of the beast has, thus far, done next to nothing.

"Jester," Beau screams as she readies for another flurry of blows. Her fists sink gelatinously into the malleable belly of the deformed priest they're fighting in the temple of the Dawnfather. She knows she's doing some damage, she can see and feel the strain but it doesn't seem like it's doing much.

Beau sends her strikes in regardless. Once, twice, she closes her eyes and feels her ki settle into her body and focuses all of that energy through her fists on her final strike. She waits with bated breath but the creature shows no signs of being stunned.

"Fuck!" Beau yells. "Fuck, fuck, fuck." Beau hasn't moved but she looks over to see Jester in the line of sight of the creature. Beau feels a panicked chill run down her spine. Beau takes stock of the situation and uses her speed to run and stand between the deformed being and Jester. "Jester, get back!"

"I've totally got this Beau," Jester says as Beau gets between her and the creature.

"I bet you do," Beau sincerely believes that. This is more for her than it is for Jester, that much is obvious.

Jester sighs but moves back about thirty feet. She brings her spiritual weapon over the head of the creature and slams it down. The radiant damage of the spiritual weapon momentarily makes it seem to look weakened.

"Another one bites the dust!" Beau says like the fighters in the old plays her mother used to take her to see.

The deformed priest looks back towards the two of them, its arms wave around, and suddenly a vertical column of fire shoots up thirty feet in front of Beau. Beau feels like lick of the magical fire burn the skin off of her fingertips as the rest of her body starts to feel the impact. It only hits Beau because she must be standing somewhere within the range of effect. Because of Beau and her shout, Jester's safely outside of the strikes range. Beau peeks back to ensure that Jester is untouched.

This one is all on her.

Because here's the thing, throughout the course of this fight Beau's dealt a lot of damage but she's taken a ton of damage as well. She's low - like really low. The flame feels like it's singeing the life out of her. Suddenly she feels ringing in her ears and a distinct feeling of pain all across her body.

Beau falls but nobody can catch her before she hits the floor.

It's all a blur.

Jester's screams amplify throughout the temple. Beau vaguely hears quiet mumbling in Zemnian and a slip of Texblade coming back into Fjord. One of the other deformed priests hits her with a curse scythe while she lays dying on the ground.

One strike.

Jester's screams turn into sobs.

Two strikes.

Beau's never thought about last words even considering the lifestyle she leads.

"Jester, I..." Beau eels out with her final breath in this world.

Fade to black.

***

Beau wakes up in a vacuous space of inky darkness. She blinks once, twice but her eyes won't stop zooming in and out of the darkness around her.

"What the-" Beau feels something otherworldly cut her off. "So I can't say-" Silence meets her lack of ability to speak the curses she wants to say.

Beau's smart. She looks around and tries to find clues as to where she is. Inky darkness hits her first amongst everything. Then she takes stock of her body floating weightlessly through this darkness. She can feel the touchstones of her body - arms, legs, feet, torso. All there, she's corporeal enough it seems.

Beau feels the need to try something really quickly. She closes her eyes and attempts to tap into her ki powers to move her body. She closes her eyes and concentrates, she looks at her body and attempts to judge if she's moving through the infinite abyss. Beau waits and waits but she sees no difference. Maybe she moved, maybe she didn't. There's nothing in this space that she can use as a guide.

Beau reaches to the all-seeing eye on the back of her neck and for the first time prays for Ioun to her her. Beau closes her eyes and lets the darkness take her away.

***

When Beau comes back to consciousness she notices two things: suddenly the inky darkness isn't so inky or dark anymore and there's a pattern in the sky ahead of her. She allows herself to bathe in the dull blueish light as she clearly makes out the pattern in the stars. How could she forget? She has the same pattern on her neck.

Beau clears her throat because surely not, "Ioun?"

The all-seeing eye flashes with dark green intensity.

Beau's going to take that as a yes. She knows all about the divine gate, this is as close as she's ever been to the gods. She's a monk of the Cobalt Soul, she knows of Ioun as an entity of knowledge. But now? Now it feels like Ioun is with her in this not-so-empty space. She feels like Caduceus or Fjord or Jester, god, Jester. The last thing Beau remembers before her eyes closed forever was the symbol of the Traveler over her head but with nothing coming out of it. And Jester's sobs, always the sobs.

Beau closes her eyes and focuses on her ki once again. This time when she opens her eyes there's context. Her ki is floating towards the all-seeing eye in the sky. Beau's heart feels like it's beating the same abnormal rhythm as the thrum of the eye. Nothing makes sense except her journey towards the light.

"Beauregard Lionett," The sky seems to beam a soft, lilting voice into her head. "Expositor of my Cobalt Soul." The voice takes a pause and 'what the fuck, what the fuck' rolls through Beau's head.

"That's me?" Beau says into the light blue air.

"Beauregard Lionett," The voice says into her head again. "Warrior of knowledge, protector of the Mighty Nein," There's a pause, almost a sigh as a all seeing being has to say 'the Mighty Nein'. "Hero," The voice pauses. "Of Ioun."

"Wait, what the-" Beau gets cut off again because why not, what was she expecting? Could this really be Ioun? It feels like she's floating mentally as well as physically. What the bleep is happening?

"You are mine, Beauregard," The voice continues. "Your vestiges, your heart, your open and kind soul. Beauregard Lionett, Champion of Ioun."

Beau stops and allows herself to be pulled even closer to the glowing green pulse of the all-seeing eye. How can this be possible? Beau's smart enough to know she's dead, this must be one final trick of Tharizdun before she plunges head first into what comes after.

"Do not think that beast's name in this sacred space!" In the voice Beau hears all the hatred, all the pain and for a brief moment she sees a flash of Ioun, scars and all.

"Hey, uh, I hate to break it to you but," Beau flops her hands out in obvious frustration. "I think I'm a little bit dead."

"For now," Ioun, might as well acknowledge in her own head that's who this is.

"What do you mean?" Beau asks curiously.

"As we speak, your beloved Jester grows closer to have the ritual complete." Ioun explains, "With my help to this Jester, you will soon be whole again."

Beau feels love and warmth and loss and hope wash over her in one transformative wave. Of course Jester would never leave her, Beau is not allowed to go where Jester cannot follow. And Beau would fight Ioun herself if it meant Jester's life was safe.

"A foolhardy thought," Ioun seems to be humored in the moment. "But be clear, your Jester will not follow you into death."

There's a crackle of energy that Beau recognizes as divine and then all of a sudden the iris of the all-seeing eye dilates open. Suddenly she sees herself, more pale than she's been been. Singed from the fire and sliced open from the scythes. Beau looks past her own body to observe her surroundings. It's Nicodranic, based on the quality of the sheets her empty body is on and the bed frame she can see. It must be The Lavish Chateau. She can see Jester, hands on Beau's shoulders, head rested on Beau's unmoving chest.

She can only see, she can't hear but she can see the tears running down Jester's face and the green flow over Beau's shoulders. The scope through the pupil is narrow but Beau gets the whole picture.

"What do I have to do to get back to her?" Beau asks, sensing there is clearly a catch here.

"It's simple," Ioun speaks into Beau's head. "Be my champion. Defeat the one who gave me this wound." Beau sees a flash of Ioun's wounded form once more.

Beau really takes a moment to see it and what Tharizdun was able to do to a fellow god. Beau feels a tremor of fear she's grown accustomed to as a traveling adventurer.

"Be your champion?" Beau asks. "What does that entail?"

The form of Ioun flashes once again in all her glory. "You'll know when your call comes." Ioun looks back towards the closed again iris of her all-seeing eye. "Your time with me has ended, my Champion. Carry yourself well for you now know that I am with your always."

Beau barely has the time to think a truncated 'what the fuck' before the all-seeing eye sparks a flash of green energy in her eyes and then-

Nothing.

***

Nothing turns into laying in Jester's arms because everything turns into Jester, doesn't it? Beau tries to open her eyes but it feels like they've been pasted shut. She goes for taking stock of her non-impaired senses instead. She can hear the soft sniffles of Jester as her head leans on Beau's healed up chest. She can smell the sweet waft of cinnamon and honey in her nose as everything screams Jester in her mind.

Beau wiggles her fingers and then lifts them up as strongly as she can to carefully card her fingers through Jester's hair. There's hitch in Jester's breath as she feels Beau's hand brush past her left horn.

"Beau?" Jester's voice says quietly like she's experiencing a miracle and doesn't want to believe it so she can't get crushed when it's not true.

"Jess," Beau tests out her fragile voice and finds it raw and crackly.

Jester shoots up from Beau and directs,"The traveler isn't bullshit," towards Nott and Caleb. She holds both of Beau's hands in hers and looks on the verge of another breakdown. "You," her voice cracks as the full force of what almost happened hither. "You aren't allowed to go where I can't follow."

"'M Sorry, Jess." Beau croaks out, she needs some water or something. Something to clear the frogs in her throat.

"Shhhh," Jester puts a finger over Beau's mouth. She looks back at the group. "Leave!" They all look taken aback as she softens her tone. "Please?"

Caleb and Fjord look the most reluctant to do so but eventually through the strength of Jester's glare and Caduceus's herding they go.

***

There's the silent treatment and then there's this. Jester doesn't speak she just scans and physically makes sure that all of Beau's wounds are healing. Beau cannot count the amount of radiant energy she feels dumped into her system. Finally she puts her hands over Jester's when she casts Guidance on Beau for no other reason than it's something she can do.

"Jester," Beau says with Jester's hands cupped between her own. Her voice feels like it's starting to regain its strength even as her body doesn't - no matter how many spells have been dumped into her. She's flat out fucking exhausted. "Please, I don't need spells I just need you."

Jester's eyes flash. "And I need you," She looks deeply into Beau's eyes. "You can't keep putting me and everything else above you, I can't live like that."

"What?" Beau keeps the contract but pulls back mentally. She doesn't want to deal with this, she doesn't have the tools to deal with this right now.

"You know what," Jester challenges. "First with the Cadogeist, then with these weirdo priests, and I'm sure I could name others if I really tried."

"Jester," Beau tries to interject.

"No," Jester cuts her off. "You listen to me." She pauses to let the impact hit Beau. Beau nods and stays quiet. "You can't keep sacrificing yourself for me. Period."

"I don't do that," Beau lies to herself and to Jester.

"Does it seem like my bullshit-o-meter is broken, Beau?"

"No?"

"Then don't test me," Jester shakes her head and looks like she's going to start crying hard again. Beau keeps her mouth shut out of love and respect for Jester.

"You tank for us and I can live with that because it's your strength and I wouldn't want to take that from you," Jester pauses to take a deep manic breath. "But I can't live with myself knowing that you would literally die - that you almost did die for me."

Jester stops and releases all the tension in her body. She droops down and presses her upper body flush to Beau's. "I love you too much, you stupid brave moron, stop it."

Beau's heart nearly stops again. She's seen some weird shit in the past however the fuck long its been. Ioun is apparently a real life thing that knows who Beau is. Jester loves her. She must have died and gone to the heavens, there's no other explanation.

"I love you too," Beau eels out. "That's why I want to protect you."

"And you think I want to see you dead because you love me?"

"No," Beau admits. "I guess that doesn't make sense."

Jester leans down to kiss Beau on the lips. The all-seeing eye tattoo on the back of Beau's neck starts to tingle and lightly burn.

"What's that?" Jester asks pulling back, lightly touching her lips.

"Ioun," Beau reaches for the back of her own neck and smiles. "Apparently I'm her champion now."

"Beau," Jester looks amazed, she presses her lips to Beau's and feels another tingle. "You have so much explaining to do." She kisses Beau more deeply and Beau responds fervently.

"I plan on having all the time in the world."

"You better," Jester mumbles against Beau's lips as she holds her tightly.

"Are you two done making out in there?!" Nott screams from the other side of the door in that feral way she has.

"Fuck off, Nott!" They both yell and get back to the important business of making out.

Beau feels divine comfort from the tingling tattoo on the back of her neck and the feel of Jester in her arms.

**Author's Note:**

> The tingling feeling they're getting at the end is Beau involuntarily doling out lay on hands, multiclass babes! This is a short little ditty but I hope you guys enjoy it. The title is from Eye in the Sky by the Alan Parsons project.


End file.
